“[Nater] built the basketball program Christian Heritage College in San Diego, California and coached from 1985 to 1995.[5] He left the position because it “was high on work and low on pay” for employment at Costco. As of 2008 he still works there.”

That could be you David if you don’t take the 5 year deal from Donnie!

]]>By: cav0011http://KnickerBlogger.Net/2009-report-card-david-lee/#comment-278451
Sat, 25 Jul 2009 10:21:47 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=2133#comment-278451Please do me a favor and dont show that list to Lee’s agent.
]]>By: bselighttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/2009-report-card-david-lee/#comment-278448
Sat, 25 Jul 2009 05:29:58 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=2133#comment-278448“For Knick fans that envision David Lee as a borderline All Star (including his agent), this has to be a disappointing list of comparable players.”

The players on the list in the original post are not comparable players; each of them simply had a somewhat comparable season.

It might make more sense to compare Lee’s first four years in the league to the first few years played by other players. Win Share is a solid, pretty all-encompassing stat to compare the players with.

So if you look at each player’s performance in his first few years, it’s clear that few of these players were close to as good as Lee early in their careers. In fact, Jerome Whitehead and Kenny Carr produced roughly half as many wins as Lee at the start of their careers. The only guy on the list who is pretty close to Lee is A.C. Green.

How about comparing him to some better power forwards? I killed a couple of hours and went through the top 250 players (by career Win Shares) and collected the same numbers for the power forwards as for the guys in the above list. Here are, in rough order, the top 20 by WS/minute early in their careers:

This isn’t a list of average-to-above-average role player power forwards. These guys range from All Stars to Hall of Famers.

]]>By: nickatnighthttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/2009-report-card-david-lee/#comment-278442
Fri, 24 Jul 2009 22:28:03 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=2133#comment-278442I’m not sure what to think of the Lee situation other than I want him back next year and think it would be a terrible idea to overpay him. We can debate what’s he’s actually worth. But IMO he’s only slightly better than Milsap and not as good as Odom. So I think 8.5M plus or minus a little is probably about right.

Who is taking a bigger risk if he signs for one year?

The Knicks could lose him for nothing, but Lee could have a disappointing year or even get hurt.

If they sign him for one year they can still trade him later this year can’t they?

If he really thinks he’s worth 10m-12m we have a problem. It’s hard to negotiate with delusional people.

Anyway, what ever happened to the NY discount?

]]>By: jon abbeyhttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/2009-report-card-david-lee/#comment-278441
Fri, 24 Jul 2009 22:14:44 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=2133#comment-278441“It just about says you are giving up your best player for nothing after one more year because we all know he won’t come back because he is “frustrated” with them.”

this is far from a certainty, FWIW. remember how pissed Varejao was the year before last? he sat out half a season because Cleveland wouldn’t give him what he thought he was worth, then he signed a deal for a year and a half and said he’d leave after that. well, that year and a half is now up and he just resigned with the Cavs.

]]>By: Frank O.http://KnickerBlogger.Net/2009-report-card-david-lee/#comment-278440
Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:08:13 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=2133#comment-278440Boy, it would be nice to have a tough defender on the perimeter

According to San Antonio paper:

The Bucks are shopping Bruce Bowen, according to a number of leagues sources.

Milwaukee acquired Bowen in the trade that sent Richard Jefferson to San Antonio last month.

Bowen could be an attractive option for some teams because his contract is only partially guaranteed.

]]>By: Zhttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/2009-report-card-david-lee/#comment-278439
Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:06:13 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=2133#comment-278439“At this point, I think that is a very possible resolution to this mess”

What exactly is the “mess”. Lee’s agent said his client was worth $10-12 mil a year. Walsh said to go out and find that money in the open market. His agent tried and failed.

Lee can be frustrated that the economy stinks, and that guys he thinks he’s better than are getting offers while he’s not, but it’s the fault of the system, not the fault of the Knicks.

]]>By: cgreenehttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/2009-report-card-david-lee/#comment-278438
Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:56:07 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=2133#comment-278438Brian, giving Lee $7M for one year would be a terrible deal for the Knicks. It just about says you are giving up your best player for nothing after one more year because we all know he won’t come back because he is “frustrated” with them. S&T is a much better option. We MUST get assets in return if we lose Lee.
]]>By: Brian Croninhttp://KnickerBlogger.Net/2009-report-card-david-lee/#comment-278436
Fri, 24 Jul 2009 20:46:39 +0000http://www.knickerblogger.net/?p=2133#comment-278436Lee isn’t really down to just sign and trades.

The option still exists for him to take a one-year, $7 million dollar contract and then go to unrestricted free agency next year.

It’s less of a financial risk for him than taking the qualifying offer and it is a smaller cap hold for the Knicks.

At this point, I think that is a very possible resolution to this mess (with Robinson doing a similar move, only for less money).

It’s bad for the Knicks, because it likely means no more David Lee after this upcoming season, but it is better than no David Lee at all.